ON THIS DAY

The island of Manhattan was purchased from the Indians for $24 in trinkets in 1626. Today, a small one-bedroom studio apartment on the island costs over 2000 trinkets a month.

On this date in 1738, John Wesley established the Methodist Church. He was the original Method Man.

It was on this date in 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message "What hath God wrought!" in the first-ever telegraph message. The second-ever telegraph message was, "What the hell does that mean?" Trivia: At one time, the Capital Records building in Los Angeles had a flashing red light on top that spelled out Hollywood in morse code. So what number is represented in Morse code by five dashes? (zero)

The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883. All 16,000 of its owners were on hand for the ceremony.

On this date in 1899, the very first Auto Repair Shop opened in Cleveland.

• Next step -- inventing the automobile!
• It made repairs a bit challenging for the guy who owned the car in New York.
• The only thing missing: mechanics!
• The guy was actually on his way to New York, but his car broke down and the rest is history.

On this date in 1935, a major league baseball game was played at night for the very first time in Cincinnati. Since no one really saw it, including the players, the next time they tried this, it was with lights! Nobody knows who won because by the 9th inning, the batteries in the flashlight were dead.

In 1959, the very first house with built-in bomb shelter is exhibited in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania. Bomb shelter, mother-in-law apartment... same thing.

On this date in 1982, the world's largest baby was born in Africa, weighing in at 22-pounds 8-ounces. The mother named him "Katoochi," which is Swahili for "Well, I guess this rules out any brothers and sisters!"